Obituary of Thomas Francis Hoey

Thomas Francis Hoey born June 9th, 1948, and died on June 10th, 2024, after a struggle with cancer. He was preceded in death by his maternal grandmother, Bridget McIntyre O’Brien, a grandson Landon Cole Bertram, and a sister Anne Deluca.

He was a shelter worker, nurse's aide, mental health worker, LPN and RN.

He worked at St. Roses Home in NY; John Lewis Social Services and the Handicapped Development Center in Davenport; The Dallas County Mental Diagnostic Center, and Shadow Mountain Hospital in Tulsa, and HCMC. He also worked at Catholic Worker shelters in New York, Davenport and Tulsa.

He is survived by his beloved husband Paul Lewis Roark and his beloved daughter Bridget Hoey Petrich of Hibbing; stepdaughter Amanda Hogner of Tahlequah, OK; stepsons Anthony Roark, Broken Arrow, OK and Andrew Roark of Parkhill, OK, ten grandchildren and one great grandson ; sisters Chris Hoey of Minneapolis and Kate Hoey of Londonderry, Nova Scotia, brother Mike of Minneapolis, MN, cousin Wayne Robbins and family of Shakopee, MN. Often, of necessity, GLBT people build or rebuild their own families. In that spirit he is also survived by Michael Harank, Oakland, CA, Nancy Moran of Tulsa; Kate Ridge and Barbara Gross of Des Moines; James Murck, Jan Reno, Bill and Cindy Thurston, Randy Bourne and Doug McChesney, David Engen and Greg Murphy all of the Twin Cities and his many friends in the mental health and Quaker communities.

His passions were the eradication of child abuse, indigenous cultures and their people, alternative music, especially Celtic music, hiking, abandoned pets and people and a good read in any of four languages, cooking and baking. A lifelong pacifist, he never registered for the draft, helped conscientious deserters and refugees on the way to Canada and beyond, and was a peace activist in Ireland in the early 70s. He participated in the exposure of the US government secretly transporting nuclear warheads through the farmlands of Oklahoma and across the United States. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the Trevor Project that advocates for and helps GLBT youth.